NEW DELHI: Delhi’s air quality improved marginally on Sunday over the previous day but the share of stubble smoke in the city’s PM2.5 climbed to the highest this year at 26%, with experts forecasting that pollution levels are soon likely to slip into the “severe” zone. Delhi recorded an overall AQI of 352, in the “very-poor” but slightly better than 397 on the previous day, which was the worst since January. However, several areas of the city were well within “severe” levels, with AQIs over 400. Anand Vihar with an AQI of 449 was the city’s most most polluted area, followed by Vivek Vihar at 402. Track the pollution level in your cityAccording to the weather department, the city is likely to receive northwesterly winds, which may further increase the share of pollutants from stubble burning in the neighbouring states. Meanwhile, the India Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) said Delhi’s air quality is likely to oscillate between severe to very poor in the next few days. ‘Severe’, ‘very poor’ air for next few days The IITM has said in its forecast of pollution in Delhi that the city’s air quality is likely to hover between ‘very poor’ and ‘severe’ over the next few days. “The overall air quality over Delhi is likely to remain in severe to ‘very poor’ category on October 31. The air quality is likely to deteriorate on November 1. It’s likely to remain in the ‘very poor’ category on November 2. The outlook for subsequent six days: Air quality is likely to remain largely in ‘severe’ to ‘very poor’ category,” the forecast stated. According to the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, there were a total of 1,761 farm fires in Punjab on Sunday against 1,898 on Saturday and 2,067 – the highest this season – on Friday. The share of stubble burning emissions in Delhi’s PM2.5 stood at 26% on Sunday, according to a SAFAR statement. Watch Delhi’s AQI remains in ‘very poor’ category
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/delhi-aqi-improves-slightly-but-share-of-farm-fires-rises-to-26/articleshow/95189120.cms